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Today, February 2, is Go Red for Women Day, wear red to raise awareness about cardiovascular disease and help save lives. In the United States, heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. But heart disease is preventable, and by increasing awareness, we can make a difference.

In addition to knowing your numbers (total cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, and BMI), being physically active helps prevent heart disease. There are many ways to stay active while going about your day. Here are a few ideas:

Staying active while commuting

Studies have shown that active commuting is positively associated with fitness in both men and women, and walking is seen as the most accessible way to increase physical activity. Also, research shows that active commuting increases adherence to activity recommendations. When walking or biking the entire commute isn’t possible try incorporating these activities by walking or biking to transit to help achieve your physical activity goals.

Commuting alone is stressful so try joining a carpool or vanpool to reduce the stress of your commute and meet new people.

Staying active around the house

Cleaning your house, doing dishes, gardening, washing the car, carrying groceries and organizing them in your pantry and other chores can help you keep active.

Kids and families activities to keep active

Kids need at least 60 minutes of exercise per day to stay healthy. It is best if they can go outdoors and play, bike, hike, and other activities. Allowing your children to walk to school is an easy way for both you and your kids to be active every day. But there are many fun ways to stay active indoors as well – use a Wii Fit to play tennis, baseball, etc., hula hoop, freeze dance, scavenger hunt, balloon volleyball, and more.

Seniors staying active

Walking is a great way for seniors to keep active, but other activities such as swimming and water aerobics can be beneficial for people who can’t walk.

We hope you can incorporate some of these ideas into your daily routine. If you need help finding new ways to incorporate more activity into your daily commute, let us know, we would be happy to help.

And good bye 2017! Like most years, 2017 was filled with many good things along with some of the not so good things. Under the good things category, we have seen the expansion of the Princeton bike share, increased awareness for driver education to increase bicycle and pedestrian safety, complete streets adoption in many towns, and the launch of a comprehensive resource for commuters, the njrideshare.com website, among others. But the increase in traffic deaths in NJ, the need for more bicycle and pedestrian improvements, and the poor state of our infrastructure, are some things we would like to see improve.

So, filled with hope and positive outlook, we proceeded to ask the people in our office what would they like to see happen in 2018 and they had a few things to say. Here are some of the things we would hope to see happen in 2018:

Fewer cars idling, particularly in cars warming up, people on lunch break (try not to use your car during your lunch break)

more employers promoting vanpooling as a way for their employees to commute to work

More women sign up for our Bike to Work Week challenge ( May 19 – May 23, 2018)

More children walking and biking to school

A NJT bus route from Little Egg Harbor Township, Via Manahawkin, Toms River to Princeton/West Windsor (OK, this one seems like a personal request)

A Vision Zero policy for any county or municipality or NJDOT

More complete streets projects implemented

The last unbuilt section of the Lawrence Hopewell Trail to be completed (won’t be 2018, but maybe by 2020)

A Mercer County trails plan

Princeton’s (Zagster) Bike Share system expanded into West Windsor and Plainsboro

Bike Share in Trenton

A Complete Streets policy for Ocean County

Fewer aggressive drivers!

We could go on, but we’d like to hear from you! Let us know what your hopes are for 2018, send us an email or leave a comment on social media.

National Teen Driver Safety week is coming to an end, but that does not mean that you can’t keep the conversation going and keep reminding your teen how to drive safely. You can get creative and send them emails, text messages, use social media, or leave sticky notes in the car. Keep reminding them the rules of the road:

No Drinking and Driving.

Set a good example by not driving after drinking. Remind your teen that drinking before the age of 21 is illegal, and alcohol and driving should never mix, no matter your age. Also remind them that driving under the influence of any impairing substance, including illicit or prescription drugs, could have deadly consequences.

Buckle Up. Every Trip. Every Time. Everyone—Front Seat and Back.

Lead by example. If you wear your seat belt every time you’re in the car, your teen is more likely to follow suit. Remind your teen that it’s important to buckle up on every trip, every time, no matter what (both in the front and back seats).

Eyes on the Road, Hands on the Wheel. All the Time.

Remind your teen about the dangers of texting, dialing, or using mobile apps while driving. Have them make their phone off-limits when they are on the road and turn on the “Do Not Disturb” or similar feature on their phone. Distracted driving isn’t limited to phone use; other passengers, audio and climate controls in the vehicle, and eating or drinking while driving are all sources of dangerous distractions for teen drivers.Obey All Posted Speed Limits.

Speeding is a critical issue for all drivers, especially for teens who lack the experience to react to changing circumstances around their cars. Obey the speed limit, and require your teen to do the same. Explain that every time the speed you’re driving doubles, the distance your car will travel when you try to stop quadruples.

With each passenger in the vehicle, your teen’s risk of a fatal crash goes up. NJ’s Law restricts passengers to 1 with exception for driver’s dependents.

Avoid Driving Tired.

It’s easy for your teen to lose track of time while doing homework or participating in extracurricular activities, so make sure they get what they need most—a good night’s sleep.

And remind them that NJ’s nighttime driving restriction is 11:00PM to 5:00AM.

Fall is here, the weather is nice and it is really pleasant to take a walk outside. Besides, the leaves are starting to change color which makes for a great view. Whether you take a walk during your lunch break, before or after work, or to and from work, walking is great way to increase your daily physical activity. And since sitting has been deemed the “new smoking”, the more you walk, the better your health.

Walking is the most popular form of exercise in the U.S.

To burn off a plain M&M candy, you would need to walk the length of a football field.

The average human walking speed is 3.1 miles per hour.

A typical pair of tennis shoes last for 500 miles of walking.

Less than 50% of Americans exercise enough to see significant health benefits.

Walking 6,000 steps a day will help improve your health and walking 10,000 will help you lose weight.

A person walks 65,000 miles in their lifetime – that’s equivalent to walking three times around the earth.

Walking increases blood flow to the brain and improves your mood.

Walking for 10 miles every week would eliminate 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year.

Walking an extra 20 minutes a day will burn 7 pounds of body fat per year.

September 22 is Car Free Day; an international event celebrated every year to encourage people to get Car Free or Car-Lite. You can walk, bike, take the transit, carpool, vanpool, or telecommute. As long as you don’t drive alone, you can participate in the Car Free Day event.

Look at it this way; you have to get to work, and you want to get your 30 min exercise anyway, why not combine them? Walk, Bike, take transit, carpool and go for a walk during lunch, telecommute and go for a walk/bike during lunch…you get the idea. You want to go green, you know it! Take the pledge.

There are no medals or special recognition, we won’t make you attend special award ceremonies if you take the pledge, but we think this will make you feel warm and fuzzy inside! You can do it all week, a few days, or just one day on September 22. And if you are already Car Free or Car-Lite, please brag about it – take the pledge.

We will enter all the participants in a drawing for a token of appreciation – a bike commuter kit, complete with helmet, lights, water bottle, and reflective items.

Be part of a global movement to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality. It counts, even for a day.

The National Highway Traffic Safety (NHTSA) launched the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” national campaign on August 16, and the campaign will continue until September 4, 2017. The campaign and enforcement mobilization come as a response to the high number of traffic fatalities due to drunk driving. According to the NHTSA, drunk driving is one of the “deadliest and most often committed – yet preventable- of crimes” and a “serious safety epidemic in our country.”

Photo credit: nj.gov

New Jersey joined NHTSA in the prevention effort, and it is organizing sobriety checkpoints. The message is simple: if you drive impaired, you risk being arrested and spending up to $10,000 in associated costs.

We know we are saying this every year, but don’t be a statistic, do not drink and drive. Although the legal limit is .08 grams per deciliter, alcohol consumption affects people’s ability to drive in different ways. Alcohol is a depressant drug, and it reduces the speed of reaction, reduces concentration, impairs vision, and some people may feel over confident which may lead to making rash decisions and taking the risk of driving impaired.

That is why if you plan to have alcohol, you should plan ahead, designate a driver ahead of time, call a cab, or take public transportation; it is not worth taking the risk. NHTSA launched an app to help people plan ahead; it is called SAFERRIDE, and it is available on both Android and iPhone.

Other things you can do to help:

if someone you know has been drinking, don’t let them drive and if you see a drunk driver, call the police

It is that time of the year again! Schools in our area are starting classes on September 5. That means it’s time for back to school preparations and going over some back to school safety tips.

Children and Parents

Taking the school bus:

Wait for the bus to stop before boarding and always board and exit the bus at locations that provide safe access

Walk only where you can see the bus driver (which means the driver will be able to see you too)

Look both ways to see that no other traffic is coming before crossing the street, just in case traffic does not stop as required

Do not move around on the bus

If the school bus has lap/shoulder seat belts, make sure you use one at all times when in the bus

Credit: Wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock

If you are driving them to School:

All passengers should wear a seat belt or use an age- and size-appropriate car safety seat or booster seat

Your child should ride in a belt-positioning booster seat until the vehicle’s seat belt fits properly (usually when the child reaches about 4′ 9″ in height and is between 8 to 12 years of age)

All children younger than 13 years of age should ride in the rear seat of vehicles. If you must drive more children than can fit in the rear seat (when carpooling, for example), move the front-seat passenger’s seat as far back as possible and have the child ride in a booster seat if the seat belts do not fit properly without it

Require teen drivers to wear a seat belt, limit the number of teen passengers, and do not allow eating, drinking, cell phone conversations, texting or other mobile device use to prevent driver distraction

Biking to school:

Always wear a bicycle helmet

Ride on the right, in the same direction as auto traffic. Use multi-use paths or bike lanes when available.